A new manometric method for determination of respiratory quotients

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Abstract
The existing manometric methods of measuring the respiratory quotient allow only one detn. to be made during one exptl. period. So far it has not been possible to measure changes of R.Q. with time, or after alterations of the exptl. conditions during the expt. Such changes occur on addition of substrates, inhibitors, catalysts, drugs, or on fertilization. A new manometric apparatus, which allows such changes to be measured on a single sample of biological material, has been made. The method involves taking samples of the liquid and gaseous phases from the main vessel. Samples are taken at the beginning of the expt. and at 3 convenient times during the expt., which is unaffected by the sampling procedure. The CO2 and bicarbonate contents of the samples are determined in subsidiary manometers. These, together with the readings of the main manometer at the times of sampling, enable the O2 uptake, and the production of respiratory CO2 and acid to be independently calculated for each interval between sampling. In this way changes with time in the rates of O2 uptake, total CO2 production and of R.Q. can be obtained. Two forms of the apparatus have been designed and are described. The theory of the method is developed and a simplified way of computing the results is given.
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